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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 1976: Montreal ● A series of exhibitions, tours, events and a commemoration on the anniversary of the closing ceremony will mark 50 years since the Montreal Games this summer.
The Games opened on 17 July 1976 and closed on 1 August and the competitions are especially remembered for the brilliance of Romania’s 14-year-old star Nadia Comaneci, who scored the first “perfect 10″ in the history of gymnastics on 18 July during the team competition on the Uneven Bars. She scored 10s six more times during the Games, and Soviet Nellie Kim also received 10s twice.
Comaneci will appear at a special celebration on 1 August on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park and all persons named “Nadia” who were born between 1976 and 1978 are encouraged to register, with 50 to be chosen by lot and invited to the event to meet her.
A 50th anniversary exhibition in the rotunda of the Stade Olympique will open on 16 May.
The 1976 Games was also remembered for a deficit of C$1 billion from construction, which required 30 years to finally pay off in 2006.
● Athletics ● LetsRun.com’s Jonathan Gault reported that the U.S. women’s 4×100 m relay team did not run in the Sunday second qualifying race at the World Athletics Relay due to an injury to third leg Samirah Moody.
● Canoe-Kayak ● The American Canoe Association, the National Governing Body in the U.S. for the canoeing and kayaking, introduced a new visual look for the federation last week, tying the ACA’s design motif into a series of “USA”-themed marks, with specific shield-style logos for 11 separate teams.
● Curling ● One of the great curling stars of all time, Swedish skip Niklas Edin announced his retirement from elite-level curling. He wrote in part on Instagram:
“Dream of that young foolish boy came true…and then some! Which leads me to make a tough and scary decision. To quit while ahead and have time to explore what else is out there!
“Don’t worry tho, I’ll be close to the game, watching, coaching, commentating and hopefully playing in the Rock League!”
Now 40, Edin won eight Worlds golds in 2013-15-18-19-21-22-24-26 – no one has won so many – plus a silver in 2017 and bronze medals in 2011 and 2012. On the Olympic level, he skipped his 2022 team to gold, won silver in 2018 and a bronze in 2014.
● Cycling ● French teen star Paul Seixas confirmed Monday that he will compete in the Tour de France, becoming the youngest rider in cycling’s showcase event in 90 years.
Seixas, 19, has been nothing less than a sensation in 2026, finishing second to Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar in the Strade Bianche in March, winning the six-stage Itzulia Basque County in April, the La Fleche Wallonne in Belgium on 22 April and was second to Pogacar in the famed Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in 26 April.
According to the French all-sport newspaper L’Equipe, Seixas would be the youngest rider in the Tour since 1937. The opening day is 4 July in Barcelona (ESP), when Seixas will be 19 yards, nine months and 10 days; France’s Adrien Cento, began the 1937 Tour at 19, three months and 26 days.
Pogacar will be the favorite, having won four Tours and will try to become only the fifth to win five Tours.
● Football ● FIFA confirmed during its 76th Congress in Vancouver (CAN), that a “virtual Extraordinary FIFA Congress, intended as a stand-alone event to appoint the hosts of the 2031 and 2035 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, will take place on Monday, 23 November 2026.”
The U.S. is the lead country for the sole bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, with matches to also be played in Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
● Swimming ● American star Gretchen Walsh set a fourth world record in the women’s 100 m Butterfly on Saturday at the Ft. Lauderdale Open, and said afterwards, she thought something special was possible:
“There’s never a time when it can’t be done if you just don’t put your mind to it.
“I didn’t go to the beach today, because I was thinking maybe there could be something special tonight. I was feeling confident after my warm-up, put on a new suit, and let the good juju flow my way.
“It was a time [54.33] I was wanting to go all summer [last year]. I think that doing it now, there is no time like the present for something like that, so I’m really, really happy.”
● Speed Skating ● A trio of greats have announced their retirements: Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen, Japan’s Miho Takagi, and Czech Martina Sabilkova.
Bloemen, now 39, was born in The Netherlands, but transitioned to represent Canada in 2014. He went on to set world records in the men’s 5,000 m and 10,000 m, an Olympic gold in the 10,000 m in 2018 as well as a 5,000 m silver.
He won eight Worlds medals, including the 2020 gold in the 5,000 m.
Takagi, 31, was a star from 2015 to 2026, winning 10 Olympic medals (2-4-4), including wins in the Team Pursuit in 2018 and the women’s 1,000 m in 2022. She won 16 World Championships medals (6-4-6), with three Team Pursuit golds, 1,000 m golds in 2024 and 2025 and a 1,500 m gold in 2024.
Sabilkova, 38, dominated women’s distance skating from 2007-24, winning an astonishing 27 World Championships medals (16-7-4) and another eight (5-2-1) in the World Allround Championships. She was the standard in the 3,000 m and 5,000 m and in Olympic competition, won both races in 2010 and the 5,000 m gold in 2014. Sabilkova also won two silvers and two bronzes, in 2010 and in 2022!
● Table Tennis ● On Saturday, during the ITTF World Team Championships in London (GBR), Jiaqi Zheng, the coach of the Chinese Taipei team wrote in a social media post that “an extremely serious and unacceptable incident occurred during the pre-match security check.
“A member of the security staff engaged in inappropriate physical contact with our player, including behavior that may constitute sexual harassment, and obstructed the player’s passage.”
The federation and others replied jointly:
“The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), World Table Tennis (WTT) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) are deeply troubled by the account of a female athlete who reported experiencing inappropriate physical contact during an entry security check at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 today.
“Every athlete deserves to feel safe, respected, and protected at all times and in all spaces. What has been described is completely unacceptable. We want to be absolutely clear: the safety and dignity of our athletes are non-negotiable.”
The statement added:
“No party involved in the organisation of this event will tolerate any conduct that compromises the wellbeing of athletes, and we expect this matter to be treated with the full seriousness it deserves. ITTF, WTT, the LOC are working through a comprehensive review of the situation.”
The championships continue through the 10th.
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